(SportsNetwork.com) - The Detroit Red Wings hope to snap their longest losing streak of the season on Sunday night when they play host to the Colorado Avalanche. However, theyll be missing their top goaltender in Jimmy Howard when they attempt to do so. Howard is not expected to play this evening after suffering a lower-body injury in Fridays 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders. He stopped eight of the nine shots he faced in the first period, but was replaced by Petr Mrazek at the start of the second. Though the Red Wings are hopeful Howards ailment isnt serious, Thomas McCollum was recalled from the American Hockey League to back up Mrazek, who will start this game. Mrazek has never faced the Avalanche and fell to 3-2-0 with a 2.55 goals against average and .922 save percentage in five games (4 starts) this season after getting credited with the loss on Friday. The 22-year-old gave up a goal on 23 shots faced versus the Islanders, while Henrik Zetterbergs first-period tally was the only one Detroit could score. That effort extended the Red Wings skid to five in a row, with three of those coming in a shootout. They have just five goals over the losing streak, which is the longest for the club since an 0-4-2 drought from Dec. 7-17 of last year. We had good, good chances but we never hit the net. Youve got to hit the net on some of them, said Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock. I thought it was a pretty high-level hockey game. I was impressed with their team, but I was impressed with lots of things we did, too. The Red Wings, though, have won four of their past five versus the Avalanche and four of the past six played at home in the series. Colorado has points in four straight (2-0-2), snapping a two-game slide on Saturday night with a 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The victory featured another solid outing from rookie Calvin Pickard in his fifth straight start. Pickard has gotten the call over backup Reto Berra with Semyon Varlamov out with a groin injury. Pickard, who is expected to start again tonight and face the Red Wings for the first time, made 28 saves and improved to 4-5-2 this season with a 2.28 GAA and .934 save percentage in 11 games with eight starts. With every opportunity Im given, I just want to give the team a chance to win, said Pickard, who had his bid for a shutout ended with 6:33 to play. Erik Johnson and Cody McLeod scored in the first period for the Avalanche. Alex Tanguay then scored twice in the third frame and also set up John Mitchells power-play goal in the period. Mitchell played for the first time in eight games due to a leg injury. Shoes Ireland On Sale .C. -- Al Jefferson knows few people will be giving the Charlotte Bobcats a chance to upset the Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Buy Shoes Ireland . -- David Ortiz saved his only hit for a key moment for the Boston Red Sox. https://www.shoesirelandsale.com/. Both sides came closest to scoring in the first half, when Roma had a goal from Mattia Destro waved off for offside and Inters Rodrigo Palacio headed high. "A draw was a fair result. Neither squad had many chances," Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic said. Wholesale Shoes Ireland .C. -- Martin Kaymer set a U. Cheap Shoes Ireland Online . Henderson (20-3) received winning scores of 48-47 and 49-46, and the other judge scored it 48-47 for Thomson (20-6). The announcement drew boos from the United Center crowd. "Train this hard for this long, its such a long camp and I see my title shot disappear," said Thomson, who fought most of the fight with a broken right hand.Daniel Sturridge is pushing for a start for Liverpool as they prepare to host Stoke in the Premier League on Sunday. Victory for Liverpool will see them leap above Stoke in the Premier League table, who sit one place above the Reds in eighth heading into the weekend.Stoke saw their chances of qualifying for the Europa League dealt a blow last week as they threw away a two-goal lead to draw at home against Swansea, and Mark Hughes will know that anything less than three points for his side at Anfield will likely end their chances. Emre Can is challenged by Ibrahim Afellay Team newsLiverpool captain Jordan Henderson has been ruled out for six to eight weeks with a knee injury and is a major doubt for Euro 2016.Sturridge and Roberto Firmino are pushing for starting places after brief substitute appearances against Borussia Dortmund but goalscorer at Signal Iduna Park Divock Origi could well keep his place.Stoke have Ryan Shawcross and Xherdan Shaqiri back available for Sundays Barclays Premier League clash with Liverpool at Anfield, but Glenn Whelan and Marko Arnautovic are doubts.Skipper Shawcross and winger Shaqiri are each set for their first appearance in three games after recovering from back and thigh problems respectively.Midfielder Whelan sustained a back issue of his own when getting out of his car, forcing him off in Saturdays 2-2 draw with Swansea, a match which also saw Arnautovic pick up a knee injury. Goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard, who made his Barclays Premier League debut in that contest, is set to remain in the first XI. Stokes Xherdan Shaqiri is set for a return Opta statsLiverpool have won four of their last five meetings against Stoke, with the other game being a 6-1 loss on the final day of last season.Stokes 1-0 win against Liverpool in the League Cup semi-final 2nd leg in January ended a run of 36 games without winning at Anfield (D5 L31). They went out of the competition on penalties however.Each of the three meetings this season between the two sides has ended 1-0 to the away team.dddddddddddd Jurgen Klopp could see his side leap above Stoke Sturridge has scored three times and assisted three goals in six Premier League games against Stoke.At Anfield, Liverpool have suffered just one defeat in their last eight Premier League games (W3 D4).The Potters are now unbeaten in three on the road in the top-flight (W2 D1) after losing each of their three away league games before that.Stoke have netted a joint-league-high eight goals in the first 15 minutes of their games this season (level with Bournemouth and Man City), which equates to an outright high 22% of their total goal haul.With seven goals and five assists in the league this season, Philippe Coutinho has already matched his best-ever goal involvement tally in a single campaign (also 12 in 13/14).Arnautovic has had a hand in 15 goals this season in the top-flight (scored 10, assists five), the most of any Stoke player in a single Premier League campaign. Marko Arnautovic has had a hand in 15 goals this season Mersons predictionsLiverpool in the top four is out of the question for me now. Stoke are a funny team. They play good football, but theyre 2-0 up and cruising and then get pegged back for a draw. I saw them get well beaten by Southampton the other week at home, but then theyll beat teams. Theyre a bit hot and cold at the moment and havent got that consistency, but they are still a good team.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 7/1)BettingLiverpool are 3/5 favourites with Sky Bet to secure all three points against Stoke (9/2) with the draw available at 3/1. The Anfield outfit have been pushed out to 20/1 to secure a top four finish but look a more solid bet at 5/4 to finish in the top six with the Potters 33/1 outsiders. Four of the last five meetings in all competitions have finished 1-0 and Sky Bet are offering odds of 5/1 for the hosts to win by that margin and 12/1 for Mark Hughes men. The Sky Sports pundits are spilt on the outcome. Check out their tips and bet here. ' ' '